Friday, February 05, 1999
Bank robbery suspects had left prison early
BY JANE PRENDERGAST and TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — Three of the men accused in Wednesday's bank robbery would have been behind bars at the time of the shootout if they had not been released years early on previous felony convictions.
• Antonio Jordan, 23, of Bond Hill, accused of shooting at Covington Police Officer Mike McGuffey, was paroled in April after serving less than two years of a seven-year sentence for robbery. He promised, in a letter to a judge before his release, that he had learned to control his anger and aggression.
• Donald “Duckie” Evans, 23, of Covington, another of the four accused of robbing the Fifth Third Bank branch on Madison Avenue, was sentenced a year ago to 61 months in prison for drug possession and being a persistent felony offender. He was wanted at the time of the shootout for allegedly escaping Tuesday from a drug rehabilitation program.
He left the facility Tuesday, according to a warrant filed by the probation and parole department.
Mr. Evans also had been sentenced to prison in 1994 for two years on a drug possession charge, but the time was suspended with the provision he undergo drug treatment.
• Roderick Blackwell, 20, of Covington, the alleged getaway driver, was sentence to 61 months in prison in January 1998 for selling cocaine but was granted shock probation after serving four months.
Mr. Jordan and Mr. Evans face federal and state charges for allegedly robbing a teller and a customer in the bank Wednesday morning.
Mr. Jordan is the only one charged with attempted murder for shooting at Officer McGuffey, but authorities said Thursday they expect to level that charge against one of the other men, too. They determined two men shot at the officer but had not yet received the gunshot residue tests to determine which other one did.
The third man who entered the bank masked and brandishing a gun, police said, was Dwayne Finnell, 25, of Covington. He was arrested Wednesday night in Cincinnati by the FBI's SWAT team.
Mr. Blackwell apparently drove away and left his friends to flee on foot.
It was in Mr. Blackwell's house Wednesday night that police found an AK-47 assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and one ounce of crack cocaine.
While in prison, Mr. Blackwell wrote to Circuit Judge Steven Jaegerthat he planned to return to school so he would be able to support his son, now almost 3.
Messrs. Jordan, Evans and Blackwell appeared Thursday morning in federal court in Covington. U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Wehrman ordered them held without bail pending a hearing at 2 p.m. today.
In reading the charges, Judge Wehrman said about $6,000 was taken in the holdup, all of which reportedly was recovered. Police found at least some of the money in a flowered pillowcase dropped along Pike Street as the men ran.
Judge Wehrman said each man faces the possibility of up to 25 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 on the bank robbery charges, and an additional seven to 10 years in prison for the use of a gun.
Mr. Finnell was taken to the Kenton County Jail but did not make a court appearance Thursday. In state court, the other men pleaded not guilty and were assigned public defenders.
Officer McGuffey, 35, will mark his 10th year on the department next month. He left work after the shootout and was put on paid leave, per departmental policy. He is expected back to work Tuesday, Lt. Col. Bill Dorsey said. The windshield of his cruiser was shattered with bulletholes, but investigators determined all were from him firing back from inside the car.
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